Worries

"Incoming Comm from Admiral Pike Captain, shall I put him through?"

"I'll take it in my ready room."

The viewscreen flickers to life, revealing Admiral Pike sitting behind his polished desk, a large viewscreen in front of him. The room is filled with the soft hum of Starfleet technology and the distant sound of bustling activity. Jamie was concerned the moment she saw him. Pike had his "I'm not sure" serious look about him.

"Sir?"

"We have a situation." Pike started, "Two, but I'll get to that in a second. You should know that there was an attempted hack on Starfleet's mainframe last night."

Jamie's eyebrows shoot up, a mix of surprise and concern flashing across her face. "A hack? On Starfleet?"

"The breach was detected, thanks to the security protocols you helped design."

"Did they get anything?" Jamie leans back, processing the information, her mind already racing through potential scenarios and countermeasures. "Any idea who was behind it?"

"We're looking into it. Jamie, I haven't seen anything like this since you were seventeen. The attackers were highly sophisticated. They bypassed several layers of security before we managed to shut them out. But they left a trail—albeit a faint one."

"And the information they were looking into -"

"Trying to get into highly classified details, where staffing rosters are kept and all the projects that have decommissioned."

"I need to see the logs and the traces they left. If there's any signature or pattern, I might be able to identify their methods or even their origin."

"Were aware of where it came from Jamie. It was from inside Starfleet itself."

Jamie gulped her eyes widening in shock, her expression quickly shifting to one of grim determination. The last time that happened she had been on this ship trying to prove to Pike she could be a good captain. When - Pike had blamed her for all the systems malfunctioning - when it had been ...

"I swear I didn't do it. I can't do much from space now can I?"

"I know it wasn't you Jamie. I wouldn't be informing you about it, I'd be rerouting you here."

Pike looked - off - well Jamie wasn't sure if that was the best word to describe Pike's manner.

"This call isn't really about the hack is it?"

"No."

"Then what is this about?"

"Grant Whittamer!"

"Who is he when he's at home?"

"A recruit I've been keeping an eye on since he came to my attention. His record is immaculate all except one thing. The other admirals are raving about him."

"Usually that's a good thing."

"I've yet to meet him in person, his file does speak for himself. I just have ... well it was you who taught me to trust my instincts. Something seems off to me. He reminds me of -"

"Garrett!" Jamie whispered. "You think there's a connection?"

Pike nodded. "Exactly. There's something about Whittamer that gives me that same feeling. His demeanor, and his evasiveness in certain situations from the reports in his file. I can't shake the feeling that there's more to him than he's letting on I'm not saying he is Garrett or even related, but it's worth noting. Garrett was a master at deception. If there's even a chance Whittamer could be following a similar path, we need to be vigilant.."

"Is that even possible? Could it be that it's just ... that you're paranoid Christopher?"

"I wish it were Jamie. You know me I don't jump to conclusions without reason. Garrett fooled a lot of people, including myself. I don't want to make the same mistake twice."

"But Garrett is exactly where he should be - locked up. Maximum security. You were there at the trial. Until you meet the guy -"

"Now that I'm onto him, I can't -"

"You're waiting to see if he does something."

Pike nodded once more. "Yes, this hack has made me even more suspicious -"

Jamie swallowed the lump in her throat. In coding classes, they were always trying to outdo each other. "You think the attack on the database might have been Whittamer?"

Pike tilts his head back in thought, "The thing is I have nothing to prove it because the one thing that is not immaculate on his record is his coding skills."

"So what do you want me to do? Meet the guy. Because we're due to be in Vulcan next week -"

"No, continue on your course, Jamie. I just ... maybe you're right, that I am overlooking and thinking this ... I just wanted to inform you of my thinking."

"I'm glad you did. Hail me if anything changes. For what it's worth Christopher I hope you are wrong."

"For once Jamie, I agree with you," Pike said. "Given what we've spoken about however I think you should inform Spock anyway. His analytical mind might pick up on something we miss. Spock should know about Garrett's history. It's important he understands the potential threat."

"I'll get right on that."

But first, there were two people Jamie was going to inform. Had the entitlement to know before anyone else.

"When you can send me his file I want to take a look at it."

"Blimey Scotty's here too, must be important if you're dragging him away, what this about J? ... J?"

"Lass?"

Jamie knew she was failing at keeping her composure and the worried tone in her friends' voices told her that. She wiped the tears from her eyes.
"I've just had a call with Admiral Pike."

"We're not losing you as Captain are we?" Bones gruffed. "You know where you go I go."

"No. I'm not leaving."

"Then Jamie what has upset you so?" Scotty asked.

"It's about a recruit, a guy named Grant Whittamer. Pike's concerned, and now so am I."

"Whittamer?"

"I know, I asked Pike that question too."

"So, what's he done?"

"It's not what he's done, it's who he reminds us of," Jamie explained. "Whittamer's background, his record is pretty much immaculate, his skills, even his demeanor... they're eerily similar - similar to Garrett and we all know how that turned out."

Bones swore. "Say it isn't so, we haven't got another one."

"Aye, that was a dark day. What's Pike's take on all this?"

A dark day indeed. Jamie had named the event The Taking of the Enterprise.

"Pike's keeping an eye on him. He suggested I inform Spock about the situation."

"Garrett managed to pull one over - a lot of people fell for his charm. Excluding you - you never liked him from the start." Bones said. "I think Pike is right. You need to tell Spock everything."

The thing was that since they had their first date, things had been going so well between them. They had done a recent research together and played chess more often. Spock had been right. Dating him was no different from the time they had originally spent together other than the warm glances and her kissing him on the cheek at the end of each date. Telling Spock this now. Well, Jamie did not want Spock to think any less of her.

"Tell him J. He has a right to know why we went without a First Officer for so long."